Popular Seafood Guide
The popular seafood guide includes the fish and shellfish that you’re most likely to see at restaurants and stores—like cod, crab, oysters, shrimp, tilapia, tuna, and others. It guides you on what seafood to choose, avoid, and ocean-friendly swaps if the green-rated, yellow-rated, and certified options listed in this guide aren’t available.
What should you buy or avoid?
Clams, mussels, and oysters
- Choose all farmed and wild clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops.
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Cod
There are two main species of cod—Atlantic and Pacific—and over 85 percent of cod sold in the U.S. is MSC certified.
- Choose Pacific cod from Alaska.
- Choose cod that’s MSC certified.
- Avoid uncertified Atlantic cod.
- Swap with halibut or haddock that’s MSC certified.
Crab
Sustainable crab options are limited—especially for canned or tubbed products. If the label states lump, jumbo lump, fancy, special, backfin, white, or claw meat, it’s most likely blue swimming crab.
- Choose all crab from Alaska.
- Choose blue crab from Alabama, Delaware, Maryland, or New Jersey.
- Avoid blue swimming crab (most canned crab).
- Avoid blue crab from other U.S. states.
- Avoid Jonah crab.
- Avoid snow crab from Canada.
Salmon
Wild-caught salmon is usually clearly labeled. If the product lacks information about where it’s from and how it was harvested, it’s likely farm-raised.
- Choose wild salmon from the U.S. or Canada.
- Choose ASC certified or MSC certified salmon.
- Avoid uncertified farmed salmon.
- Swap with Arctic char or U.S. farmed rainbow trout.
Shrimp
Wild-caught shrimp is almost always labeled as such. About 90 percent of the shrimp sold in the U.S. is farm-raised and imported.
- Choose shrimp from the U.S., Ecuador, or Thailand.
- Choose ASC certified or BAP certified shrimp.
- Avoid uncertified shrimp from Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, or Vietnam.
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Swai
Swai is a type of catfish native to Asia that may also be labeled basa, pangasius, or sutchi catfish.
- Choose ASC certified or BAP certified swai.
- Avoid uncertified swai.
- Swap with U.S. farmed catfish, Alaska pollock, or pollock that’s MSC certified.
Tilapia
Virtually all tilapia sold in the U.S. is farm-raised and imported.
- Choose tilapia from Colombia or Taiwan.
- Choose ASC certified or BAP certified tilapia.
- Avoid tilapia from China.
- Swap with U.S. farmed striped bass or Alaska flounder and sole.
Tuna
Brands that source tuna from environmentally sustainable or more responsible fisheries want you to know, so their labels will state how the tuna was caught using terms like pole-&-lines, free school, or FAD-free.
- Choose tuna caught in the Atlantic or Pacific with troll, pole-&-lines, or FAD-free purse seines, which may be labeled non-FAD, free school, or school-caught.
- Avoid Atlantic bluefin, southern bluefin, ranched bluefin tuna, and all other tunas.
Download the guide
Download
Seafood Watch Popular Seafood Guide
Download PDF 1.8 MB – Seafood Watch Popular Seafood GuideHow to use this guide
Our green, yellow, and red ratings indicate environmental risk. We use our ratings and third-party certifications to make our recommendations.
Certified seafood means seafood has been independently certified to a third-party environmental standard. Standards listed in this guide are the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Choose
- Green-rated seafood because environmental risks are low.
- Yellow-rated seafood because environmental risks are moderate.
- Certified seafood listed in this guide.
Avoid
- Red-rated seafood because environmental risks are high, often due to overfishing, poor management, or harm to marine life and habitats.
Swap
- Red-rated seafood for similar-tasting seafood that’s green-rated, yellow-rated, or certified.
Where to find sustainable seafood
When shopping or dining out, start by asking, “Do you sell sustainable seafood?” You may need to ask what species it is and where and how it was caught or farmed. If the business can’t answer or the label doesn’t provide this information, our Popular Seafood Guide can help you choose another ocean-friendly option.
More retailers and restaurants are sharing where their seafood comes from and how it was caught. But not all businesses have this information. When you ask questions, you help create demand for sustainable seafood and encourage businesses to offer it.
Grocery stores
We work with grocery stores to implement time-bound commitments to follow Seafood Watch recommendations. MOM’s Organic Market and PCC Community Markets follow our recommendations. Whole Foods Market follows our recommendations for wild seafood and has a proprietary standard for farmed seafood.
Restaurants
We work with major restaurant chains—including California Fish Grill and The Cheesecake Factory—that are implementing their sustainable seafood commitments.
Meal delivery services
Blue Apron and Hello Fresh only send their customers green-rated, yellow-rated, or certified seafood. Other meal delivery services may offer sustainable seafood, and we encourage you to ask them if they don’t.
Explore other seafood guides
Change & impact
National Seafood Guide
A list of popular seafood to choose and avoid across the U.S.
View and download the guide – National Seafood Guide
Change & impact
Hawai‘i Seafood Guide
A list of popular seafood to choose and avoid in Hawai’i.
View and download the guide – Hawai‘i Seafood Guide
Change & impact
U.S. Central Seafood Guide
A list of popular seafood to choose and avoid across 22 Central U.S. states.
View and download the guide – U.S. Central Seafood Guide
Change & impact
U.S. Northeast Seafood Guide
A list of popular seafood to choose and avoid across the U.S. Northeast, from New Jersey to Maine.
View and download the guide – U.S. Northeast Seafood Guide